These Kids Today

My children are busy little guys. During the year they have soccer, band, Sunday School, Hebrew School, occasional homework from school, and occasional homework from their parents. They have their iPads, loving to play Minecraft, text & Facetime their friends, and watch endless hours of Lets Play videos. Occasionally I hear from parents, that these kids today are always glued to their devices. Apparently, I am not the only one as @Macalope from Macworld hears it too. In his frequent lash out at poor Apple coverage by the media, he takes down Amanda Sheehan rant about her children not being able to put down the device. Like @Macalope, I believe in a more balanced parenting strategy than Ms. Sheehan. It seems that as a society, we have lost perspective of what it means to be a child. Somehow as we grow to adulthood, we start to see our children as little machines needing more rigorous learning in order to survive this tough nasty world. Well, lets look our growing up and try to remember that somehow we turned out ok.

Anorak author, "Yeoman Lowbrow" starts us out with 8 Reasons Children of the 1970's Should All Be Dead. While the article is clearly a parody of life, seven of the eight things I did as a child with the sole exception that I wore a seatbelt regularly. The only reason I did that was that my parents wouldn't drive the car unless we buckled up. Many of my friends didn't. Parents kindly note that they used to ride their bicycles all through the neighborhoods and play outside. Well, let's not forget, in the 1980's Gary Larsen brought us this gem while commenting on society:

What we don't want to admit is that our kids are normal kids. They have their interests, they like to communicate with their friends, and they don't always think that what their parent wants them to do is what they want to do. The reality is that our constant access to knowledge is helping our children become smarter. In order to get our children to score lower, new lines are drawn frequently. It's called renorming. In the pre-Google era, it was noted that IQ scores rose 5 to 25 points per generation. Imagine what happens now with children constantly seeking information and knowledge. Lets think about how our learning has changed and assessment has changed. Providing a realistic perspective can difficult, but by simply looking at the difference between Illinois Goal Assessment Program questions from the 1990's and those on the PARCC assessment today can help. Either, our kids are smarter or we are more spiteful adults by making them take this assessment. Or, really, both are possibilities. 

The reality is the children will grow up fine. It's ok if they play with their devices. It's ok if they run around outside. Really, what we want is balance. Through that, they will grow, and hopefully be as successful in life as they dream to be.

People Will Come

Field of Dreams 2